Uni visits - when?

I just tried Push - you don't seem to need to register to use the search - looks quite handy but when I specified the 'what', the list included places that dont actually offer the relevant course so you may need to crosscheck with other sources.

tenbyeight A site my ds and I found really useful was Push

You have to register, but they don't spam you with stuff you don't want. You can play around with all sorts of options it's worth taking into consideration - you can filter by Geography, by the expected grades or points your dc will be likely to get, by cost of living, and all sorts of things.

Far more useful than asking MN as - as you have seen- MN tends to be dominated by people who think all dcs will be fighting for places at some supposed 'top' university list, and that all our dc are of course going to get 4A*s at A-level. It doesn't always reflect life for so many of us.

Sounds good to me - except for one small detail which is that you should ensure your DC is engaged in the process, I'm sure you know that, just sub 'we' for 'I' in the above.

Ljjk, each place is different - some you have to pre-book, some you sign up on the day, others run enough sessions that you can just turn up. Most ime your dc registers and they get a qr or barcode which you present somewhere on arrival to get your bag of general info and maps.

tenby, if you google university open days there is a good website which lists them - both RG and others.

lljkk, I think you can, but you may not get onto a department tour/talk if you haven't already signed up.

How does that work, turning up for open day if you don't have an appointment to visit a specific department? I thought each dept. set up its own special tour for its own applicants or prospective applicants. Rather than open-to-public drop in sessions.

Have you some nearby unis - if so then there is no harm in visiting sooner rather than later. Have a look at their websites. Even if your so. Wouldn't want to go there it might help him think about what he is looking for.

School/college should be able to give details of relevant sites to give that info such as Which? Good University Guide. Tbh those type of courses may not be best offered at more traditional Unis.

Dampsqid I agree it does happen.
Esornep I do apologise, I thought that your post at 15:21 was responding to my comment since it started with it.

I am not advocating leaving the PS blank (this is just provocative and silly). I am saying that the PS is unlikely to be a significant factor in many STEM courses, so students should write something decent, but not angst about it too much.

I think it is possibly unhelpful to post here that PSs can be left blank for certain courses as the end result without concrete information is a half way house. Prospective students won't be sure if they might be wasting their time or not.

And prospective students who look to Mumsnet for such information would also be wasting their time: they need to ask at open days to get reliable information. Pretty sure that STEM admissions tutors will confirm that PS is not a significant factor in deciding about missed offers. Some places will also be happy to confirm that offers are made entirely on the basis of achieved and predicted grades e.g. Warwick maths openly has such a standard offer policy. (A policy which is arguably unfair, as it does not allow for different backgrounds.)

I think it is possibly unhelpful to post here that PSs can be left blank for certain courses as the end result without concrete information is a half way house. Prospective students won't be sure if they might be wasting their time or not

I don't think anyone was suggesting that it was a good idea. It's more that it's possible and does occasionally happen.

^The only hesitation I have in listing courses explicitly which I know for sure do this is that these courses do not advertise that their admissions are centralised.

BTW these are not middling universities or courses, either - they include top 10 courses.^

I am not sure that I understand. You are worried that the universities for these courses are wanting to dissimulate about their admissions process and therefore continue the myth of PSs?
I think it is possibly unhelpful to post here that PSs can be left blank for certain courses as the end result without concrete information is a half way house. Prospective students won't be sure if they might be wasting their time or not.

I could start the ball rolling. There is a top ten Midlands university that has centralised admissions.

Taking what you say to its logical conclusion you should be able to list STEM courses where prospective students can safely leave the PS section blank.

See Titchy's comment above. "Like most we have centralised admissions. Apply with the right subjects and predictions within a grade of our standard offer and computer says yes. Simple as that."

The only hesitation I have in listing courses explicitly which I know for sure do this is that these courses do not advertise that their admissions are centralised.

BTW these are not middling universities or courses, either - they include top 10 courses.

My institution - London but not being any more detailed than that.

Like most we have centralised admissions. Apply with the right subjects and predictions within a grade of our standard offer and computer says yes. Simple as that.

where have they applied and which courses Titchy?

esornep I think you are in order to make a valid point overstating something which is at cross purposes to what I am saying. You cannot make a blanket statement that only UMS points count for all STEM subjects, social sciences and humanities at all universities. (I am also sure that you realise that in some cases UMS points can also be discriminatory.)
Taking what you say to its logical conclusion you should be able to list STEM courses where prospective students can safely leave the PS section blank.

I have already said like PPs that I think there are positives of writing a PS. It goes without saying that some students will have more help than others. However any student aiming to do a degree (mathematicians being the possible exception) should be able to write a fairly coherent summary of why they want to do that degree without it being too onerous. Just perhaps there may be something in that PS which differentiates them as having more spark despite getting a couple of UMSs lower than another student. Perhaps in some cases that may help their application
I think we are all agreed that the process should not be given mythical status particularly for middling universities or courses that clearly state it is not part of the admissions criteria.

Plenty leave it blank! And get offers!

Love to know if anyone left it blank.

im still curious how those (few) courses which are oversubscribed select then.

We interview, MMI style, and score on individual interview questions, with a combined score. The highest scores without 2+ x "totally unsuitable" interview marks, get offers (but some or most or all offers are conditional on actual A-level results, I think that's how it works). PS is one of our scoring stations, but maybe is part of admissions elsewhere, too (I honestly can't keep track).

I wish folk wouldn't talk like the admissions process is some deep dark secret mystery black box. We are subject to FOI requests & have to be as transparent & consistent with our published admissions criteria as possible or we'd get masticated & punished by some authority. Obviously we'll always take the top % of applicants, and we can't completely control the quality of who applies. That's the only true unknown in the process. We think our programme is great but can't be sure who else is convinced of that.

Redhelen - because some universities do look at it - Oxford, Cambridge, medics , vets and dentists and one or two others where they still interview. Plus others such as nursing where experience is pretty much vital. You need some space to write that experience down!

It's like the school common application form - there's a space for 'why do you want a particular school?' - but for the majority it won't have any bearing on the outcome.

Folk really should take note of what the actual university bods on these threads say, not what their kids' Deputy head said or what Billy's mum said or what happened to your neighbour's son.